The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay graced the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Travel Mart, 2015 yesterday at the Royal Banquet Hall in Thimphu.
The Prime Minister said, “As a small nation, we do not have the resources of establishing ourselves in other countries but we have a large number of true friends abroad. We are very glad that many of our friends continue to visit Bhutan.”
“The numbers of tourists visiting Bhutan is increasing and we should be mindful of the benefits of sustainable and responsible tourism. It is low volume – purposely and deliberately for you, for us and for our future generations,” the PM added.
Lyonchhen said that the government would be putting a lot of effort in enhancing the quality of services by improving road connectivity, starting domestic airlines and two helicopter services. He also highlighted other initiatives like marketing Bhutan’s unique festivals, fishing (catch and release), organic farm and promoting movements such as Clean Bhutan and Green Bhutan among others.
PM said that revenue earned through tourism contributed substantially in the nation’s development but maintaining the conscious approach of ‘high-value and low-volume’ tourism was very important.
PM said that Bhutan’s largely pristine environment, indigenous wildlife and the people living in harmony with the nature was something that must be shared with the world, not just for today but with the future generations as well.
PM said that 2015 is the ‘Visit Bhutan’ year dedicated to the 60th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of our the monarch, His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck who is the architect of a controlled, deliberate and responsible strategy of tourism in Bhutan.
PM encouraged the participants from other countries to explore Bhutan in all possible ways and connect with its people, culture and environment as much as they could during their stay in the country.
TCB spoke person Damcho Rinzin said that the reason for conducting the conference here is to explore beyond normal tourism which is going and spending on a few things but on the other hand adventure tourism is going to communities and experiencing things like drinking (butter tea) suja. He said Bhutan as a member of PATA can use their resources, expertise and knowledge in terms of promoting and generating Tourism in Bhutan.
PATA was founded in 1951 and it is a non-profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism within the Asia Pacific region.
The association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to the member organizations, comprising 90 governments, state and city tourism bodies, nearly 30 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 57 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond.
